Box-car-door fastener.



P. D. HOOTON.

BOX OAR DOOR FASTENER.

APPLIOATION FILED 13110.9, 1911.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

Inventor Witnesses Attorneys COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH IO-,WASHINUTON. n. c.

PINKIE D. HOOTON, OF HUGHES SPRINGS, TEXAS.

BOX-CAR-DOOR FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 9, 1911.

Patented Mar. 19, 1912.

Serial No. 664,830.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PINKIE D. Hooroiv, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hughes Springs, in the county of Cass and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Box-Car-Door Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a simple and secure means whereby opposed doors may be locked against movement, said means taking the form of a brace, extended unbroken, transversely of the structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel form of tie, adapted to engage remote points'upon a supporting structure, to prevent said structure spreading, the tie being terminally adapted to receive locking means.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 shows in side elevation, a supporting structure equipped with the device of my invention, the supporting structure in the present instance taking the form of a railway car; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the structure shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of the tie; and Fig. 4 is a fragmental section of the floor of the supporting structure, the view showing the tie in place in the floor.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 denotes generally, the supporting structure, the same being provided with oppositely disposed doorways 2, for which doorways, doors 3 are provided. The doors 3 are mounted, as indicated generally at 4, so as to swing outwardly, at right angles to the side wall of the supporting structure, and also slide longitudinally of the supporting structure, the mechanism whereby this result is carried out being common and well known, and consisting of pulley-carrying hangers 5 upon the door 3, adapted to cobeing having openings 11,, adapted to receive locking means of any sort. Of these tie bars 9 there may be any number. The tie bars 9 are equipped adjacent their ends, with pairs of oppositely disposed prongs 12. These prongs 12 may be located at any desired points relatively to the ends of the bars 9. In the present instance, the prongs 12 are located relatively near to the enlarged heads 10, the prongs 12 being adapted, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, to pass through the floor 7 and to enter certain of the joists l-it upon which the floor 7 is supported. Preferably, the prongs 12 engage with the outermost joists, as shown. The construction is such, therefore, that opposite side portions of the car are connected by a rigid, integral bar, this bar, as will be readily understood, serving to brace the entire supporting structure.

The heads 10 of the bar 9 protrude through openings 15 in the doors 3 and through openings in plates 16 which are secured upon the outer faces of the doors 3.

If desired, the doors 3 may be equipped with flexible elements 17, carrying pins 18, adapted to enter the openings 11 in the heads 10. If desired, however, car seals of the common and well known type, may be inserted through the openings 11, these seals requiring no specific description, either as to their construction or as to their manner of application.

Then the door-s3 are locked in the manner hereinbefore described, it will be observed that both doors will be held against bulging, and, moreover, the entire supporting structure will be braced by the bars 9, owing to the fact that the bars 9 are embedded in, and firmly interlocked with, the floor 7. Owing to the fact that the plates 16 are employed, the same ordinarily being fashioned from metal, the openings through which the heads 10 protrude, cannot well be enlarged, so as to permit an opening of the doors.

Owing to the fact that the bars 9 are equipped with the depending prongs 12, the

bars may be mounted in place upon the floor 7, by simply embedding the prongs in the floor, the use of tools, other than a maul or the like, being unnecessary.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed is 1. In a device of the class described, a supporting structure having oppositely disposed doorways; doors for the doorways; a tie extended in a single length across the supporting structure and through the doors; and means upon the outside of the doors to engage with the tie.

2. In a device of the class described, a supporting structure including a floor and oppositely disposed doorways; doors for the doorways; and a tie secured to the floor and extended through both doors, the exposed ends of the tie having openings to receive a locking device.

3. In a device of the class described, a supporting structure including a floor and oppositely disposed doorways; doors for the doorways; plates applied to the outer faces of the doors; abar resting upon the floor, and provided adjacent its ends with prongs adapted to enter the floor, the ends of the bar protruding through the doors and through the plates,,the protruding ends of the bar being provided with openings adapted to receive locking means.

4. As an article of manufacture, a tie member adapted to unite a pair of opposed doors, the tie consisting of a bar having openings adjacent its ends, the bar' being provided, adjacent the openings, with support-engaging prongs.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PINKIE D. HOO'ION. Witnesses:

J. M. HooioN, R. J. THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

